Lip swallower

When it came to catching air, the Virtue soaked up both our attempts to preload, as well as the lips of most jumps, making it difficult to get any kind of pop. The Felt is clearly more at home with its feet firmly planted on the ground, with one test rider commenting it “exhibits a less-than-playful attitude in the air.”

The Virtue’s 140mm-travel RockShox Sektor played a role in this affect—like the rear shock, it was difficult to get dialed in. It also came with a handlebar-remote lockout that most riders ended up using more than anticipated. Generally we ended up running the shock slightly soft to get some plushness, then used the lockout to firm up the front end and keep it from diving, which it was prone to do even on mid-size hits.

Though by using the remote, you could create a workable fork, it often felt like a kludgy work-around. What’s more, the remote button is easily confused for that of a RockShox Reverb and we found ourselves hitting it when we wanted to lower the saddle—a duty handled by a KS LEV whose remote lever is on the other handgrip.

Photo by Tyler Frasca.

A great parts spec for the price

At $3,800, the Felt Virtue Nine 20 is the second most affordable bike in our test. To get a full complement of Shimano XT componentry along with one of our favorite dropper posts—the aforementioned KS LEV—for that price is simply amazing. The 2×10 drivetrain is appropriate for both the price point and weight of the bike, and, along with the XT hub/DT Swiss wheelset mean the Virtue Nine 20 should provide years of dependable service. It also comes shod in a nice, big set of tires— Continental X-King SL 2.4-inchers.

Geometry and Fools Gold

Virtue Nine 20’s geometry skews toward the cross country side of the spectrum rather than all-mountain. The 69 degree head angle and 74.5 degree seat tube angle are middle-of-the-road trail bike numbers and, in conjunction with the 17.7-inch chainstays give the bike a fairly maneuverable, planted-on-the-ground character.

Who is this bike for?

For the advanced beginner to intermediate trail rider, the Felt Virtue Nine 20 is certainly worthy of consideration. While it’s not likely to win any races, this tough, good rolling bike balances climbing, descending and spending rather well. A good first full-suspension 29er for the rider on a budget, the Felt Virtue Nine 20 is a solid choice.

Bottom Line

Though the Felt Virtue Nine 20 requires careful suspension setup and some mental coordination to get your head around its control setup, the bike is smartly spec’d with a Shimano 2x XT drivetrain and brakes, a quality wheelset and KS Lev dropper post. Its unique Equilink system does a good job of isolating drive forces from braking and suspension input, delivering surprising climbing ability. It can handle wide open, roll-straight-through style descents but can get in over its head on super techy trails with big rock gardens, drops and jumps.

Gregg Kato studied journalism and broadcasting in college while working many different jobs including deejaying, driving a forklift and building web sites (not all at the same time). Kato enjoys riding local Santa Cruz trails. Besides being an avid mountain biker, he is also a motorcycle fanatic. Two wheels, one Passion.

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Comments:

“While it’s not likely to win any races…” HA! Let’s not kid ourselves here, fast riders who train hard win races, not $10,000 bikes. On one hand this is a solid review on a website largely dedicated to evaluating products (which I appreciate AND enjoy!). On the other hand I think many readers would see value in more articles on topics like bike tuning/setup/maintenance, handling skills, diet (gasp) and race training/strategy. Just my 2 cents…